Vietnam official jailed over 'hero' farmer eviction

Fish farmer Doan Van Vuon and his family members stand trial at the People's Court House in Hai Phong on April 2, 2013.

AFP: Vietnam News Agency

A Vietnamese local government official has been jailed for two and a half years for the destruction of the home of a farmer who became a national hero for resisting eviction, local media has reported.

Doan Van Vuon became a symbol of rising public dissatisfaction over land rights after arming his family with homemade shotguns in an attempt to keep their fish farm east of Hanoi.

The 50-year-old's act of defiance left seven policemen injured, but triggered a nationwide outpouring of support, with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung branding the eviction "illegal".

Nguyen Van Khanh, deputy chairman of the district where the incident happened, was given a 30-month jail sentence for destruction of property, the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported.

Mr Vuon was given an unexpectedly lenient sentence of five years last Friday for attempted murder, after prosecutors admitted the eviction had been illegal and that local authorities had acted improperly.

Three relatives were sentenced to between two and five years.

Mr Vuon asked the court to give Mr Khanh a lenient sentence when he appeared in court this week as a witness, as he is not widely viewed to be the mastermind of the eviction.

Four other officials, including Mr Khanh's boss, were given suspended sentences of between 15 and 24 months, despite Mr Vuon's plea for the court to give them tougher sentences.

Land is a divisive issue in communist Vietnam, where it is wholly owned by the state and rights of use are not always clear or protected.

More than 70 per cent of all complaints lodged with authorities nationwide concern land.